12.08.11 -

"It is true that you need your mind, you need what you know to be able to tell which store to go to buy what you want. But that does not mean that you need that knowledge to look at reality. When you are looking at a pool of water and you see a reflection, you know the reflected object is not really there, it is just a reflection. You know that what is there is water. It is the same thing with the mind: when you look, you see the content of mind, but you know it is a reflection. You know the reality is there, not the reflection. We take the reflection in the water to be what is there most of the time, and we forget the water. After a while we take our minds to be what is there and we forget the true reality." - A. H. Almaas

12.14.11 -

"Knowledge is not to close something, to end something, or to come to conclusions. The true function of the mind is not to come to conclusions, and true knowledge is not comprised of conclusions. True knowledge is the opening of questions. In the dead world, we want knowledge that will silence our questions. We want our questions to be answered for good; we want to have no more questions. The fact is that true knowledge just opens up more questions. It just shows you more and more that you do not know. When you have the next insight, you have just found out something, but at that same instant you realize how much more you do not now. And it should continue that way—seeing how much more you do not know, until finally, you realize you do not know anything. When you finally see that you know absolutely nothing, then maybe it is possible to be innocent.

True knowledge does not give us comfort. In fact, it frees us from the need for comfort. It does not make us more secure and cozy; it makes us more and more insecure. True knowledge causes us to lose our ground more and more because the ground we are standing is fake. This Work is not an easy thing from the perspective of the dead world. It is very difficult and frightening. It is terrifying. It looks impossible because we look at it from the perspective of the mind; from that perspective it is not possible. But it is possible because the true reality is there. That’s what makes it possible. It is not because our mind things it is possible or not. Its possibility is its reality. It is what is; that’s why it is possible to perceive it." - A.A. Almaas

This is a beautiful expression from a very conscious woman:

"The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

- Helen Keller

12.25.11 -

Some thoughts arising from contemplation...

One cannot imprison unconditional love; one can only be trained/enforced to ignore it through thinking. True reality is still there radiating like the Sun, covered by the darkening clouds of incessant thinking.

Living in the mind is like spending your whole life sitting in a movie theatre, thinking you are living your life.

If corporations are people, then they should present the evidence of an actual person, with a social security card, birth certificate, and an actual residence address. The supreme court justices seem to have lost their wisdom, conscience, and integrity in the deep pockets of unauthentic people. The "idea" that corporations are people is a fictitious delusion called insanity.

Peace of mind is the whole point. The many "think" it sounds nice and they come up with a superficial compromise to maintain intellectual integrity, but the price one pays for that cannot be truly comprehended until one falls into that space. Once one occupies it on a regular basis, one wakes up out of the drunken stupor they occupied intellectually. It is a prison; literally. I spend most of my time in a meditative pose throughout my work day or at home or out in the world biking or walking, or whatever I'm doing, being aware of what is going on mentally, emotionally, physically, noticing the reactions on all those levels has really paid off, because it is a clear road map out of the dysfunctional thinking that does the imprisoning. There were some good books I used in that process. Don Miguel Ruiz has written some awesome books and the other one was by Richard Moss, The Mandala of Being. Moss's book was excellent, though I disagree with his context that Being cannot be known, that when thinking disappears, so does the self, and so does being. My experiences don't support that notion. Other than that it's a solid book. We all find the right people, places, things to wake us up if we are able to see the signs and symbols. This is a very challenging thing to do, to become aware on at a minimal level to realize something is not right, to begin the journey of seeker. Keep up the "peace" of mind work :)

Excellent article on various herbs for headaches without pharmaceutical dangers.

http://bearmedicineherbals.com/a-few-herbs-for-headaches.html

What is food reconditioning? Read the article and find out:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-you-should-care-that-the-fda-allows-food-reconditioning.html

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One person can make a difference and put Monsanto in their place. He should've made predatory Monsanto executives and shareholders pay his legal bills. Lone Farmer Tackles Corporate Giant Monsanto

12.26.11 -

People "think" everyone is going to have to wake up before any real change occurs. The truth is it isn't going to require the whole country or world. Shifting a paradigm is an energetic endeavor. Think of it as an ignition; an enlightening moment is an opening into awareness of what was once dark. Cultural amnesia is that darkness. When one brings enough presence into their existence, it triggers the beginning of an opening that is energetic in nature. This is why it is said that Nature can cure the collective insanity, because of the immense spiritual energies within it. But to do that, one has to enter Nature, get out of the head, and get into where the wilds still exist. Why do you think old growth forests and nature in general are being destroyed, eliminated or tamed (perverse word).  Nature is our existence, our nature, our mirror of what has been lost and buried within.

Bringing awareness through presence is like the pilot light on a gas stove burner that lights the whole burner to achieve a full flame. The same process occurs in each of us if we can get present enough to allow this to occur. It is not something one does. There is no doing, only letting go. I'm sure it sounds ridiculous, but that is the mind seeking to stop one from opening the gate to the light. Presence is not a doing; it is an absence of thinking. Beliefs only exist within the framework of thinking. Thinking is a curse that cripples awareness to such an extent, that one cannot even conceive of what that means.

One can only get to that place, that precipice, that razor edge, where one perceives annihilation in the falling away, that an opening occurs, like a bubble bursting, a nuclear bomb going off, that brings a moment of utter clarity that staggers the mind, because it illuminates the utter insanity of not BEING.

Can one stop the blossoms on an apple tree from blooming as they slowly open one by one until a quickening occurs for full blossoming? The beauty opens and from this opening, the fruit begins to ripen to eventually fall from the tree. All of this is indicative of the awakening beyond the mind. Even the worm in the apple has its place in this play of light/life.

 There are many who are completely absorbed into the fantasy that has been woven around their spiritual nature by delusion and desire, a focused thought program, just as one gets enthralled in a movie in the theatre. It seems so real and it is in the head. They like to think they are not thinking, but it is such a trick, that they cannot even see the false constructs. They are living on beliefs they think exist. Nothing real exists in the mind, and it is just like a television set with an infinite number of channels seeking to distract one from awareness of the delusion. One needs to consider they imagination center each is gifted with has been hijacked, and hacked if you will to imprison one’s attention.

The present is a fragile delicate doorway that cannot be entered with thinking. I know, because I have been kicked out on numerous occasions because I tried to put words to what I was experiencing. An experience is an experience and there are no words to convey what it is/was to anyone, because the only way to “understand” is to have the experience. The more one thinks, the further away from the present one gets. This is why education is such a crippling process, because it leaves out the experiential component to understanding, which is why the many can go about trashing people, places, and things because they are not present to experience the byproduct of their fear based creative endeavors.

Fear can only take root in the mind through judgments. The only way to extinguish fear is through love and compassion of one’s self. One cannot love or have compassion for another without having it within themselves first. We all have dimmer switches that have been turned way down low, and as we remember how to turn it up, we will radiate what is hidden within out into the world, and it is this inner lighting, that will nurture the opening in others.